You can’t open a newspaper or scroll through your Facebook feed without an article popping up about the climate emergency (rightly so we think!). So, we thought we’d let you know just what we are already doing at iapetus and, importantly, how we are working to improve our business to make it as friendly to this beautiful planet we all share as possible.
Here at iapetus we have baked into our ethos an ethical and environmental approach to all we do. We started working with this in mind when we first opened in 2005 and that has remained the same ever since. In all elements of our business, from the products we sell, to their packaging and our physical store, we always seek to reduce our impact on the environment and make things a little more green.
The products we sell...
We’re super proud of the amazing creations we stock, but what’s just as important is between 70-80% of these are actually handcrafted here in the UK. This reduces air/sea miles vs imported products. As well as this very few, if any, of our makers rely on plastics and instead make their unique products from natural materials - clay, silver, metals, wood... the list goes on. Many of our artists even use recycled or reclaimed materials, such as Gaynor Hebden-Smith who collects sea glass herself from Scotland’s shores to create gorgeous pieces of jewellery, or our range of fair trade throws that are just as comforting as knowing they’re created using recycled cotton.
It is also worth noting our ever-growing selection of greetings cards are printed in the UK or Ireland on FSC accredited paper sources or recycled board. Additionally, we have been encouraging our card makers, such as Mistletoe House and Stormy Knight, to go ‘naked’ and get rid of the unnecessary plastic wrap around individual cards. All of these Naked cards have been maked on our website so that even if you can’t visit iapetus gallery in person, you can choose to shop plastic free.
Now, for those products that are made outside of the UK, many come from Europe. Once again, this helps reduce the miles travelled vs products shipped from the Far East.
Lastly, our products from further afield do of course have to come via boat. However, all these wonderful products are from Fair Trade accredited suppliers like Namaste, Shared Earth and Paper High. This provides employment for many artisans in third world countries. This also means that they are paid fairly and work in safe and clean environments. Much of our fair trade offerings are crafted using recycled materials, meaning rubbish is turned into products that can support people further.
The packaging we use...
At iapetus, we are big believers in reducing waste by recycling. So, we make sure that ethos follows through and is applied to all our packaging. Our aim being that most is either recycled or can easily be recycled.
For those who shop with us in person in our Malvern gallery, your chosen goodies will be carefully wrapped in tissue paper. Occasionally we have to use bubble wrap but we try to keep it to a minimum. Our presentation packaging is also all paper based including our new kraft jewellery boxes which are 100% recyclable. Finally, every product leaves our store in an iapetus paper bag - never have we used plastic bags.
If you aren’t able to visit us in person, no worries as we also sell online at iapetus.co.uk. Just like in-store, all our products are wrapped with care and shipped in cardboard boxes, protected in transit by paper where possible. Much of this is actually reused materials gathered from packaging used in supplier deliveries, excess packaging other local stores can’t use, and even some that our staff have brought in from home. Our small packing room is always full of recycled packaging waiting for its own second life with each web order that comes in. We even have a little sticker made to explain to customers why their box may be a bit tatty around the edges and hopefully encourage them to join in the fun of reusing and recycling.
While it is nice to have plenty of packaging to reuse, we do also actively encourage our suppliers to reduce the packaging they use and send to us. This results in less packaging used and reduction in the size and weight of deliveries, therefore reducing fuel consumption.
Our gallery...
We make a great effort to reduce our environmental impact at our Malvern gallery. This includes just making little but strong changes like switching our lighting to LED bulbs and improving insulation so there’s lower heating requirements, but we stay just as cosy. When creating our gallery we managed to utilise natural and recycled materials where possible, especially wood. We have used reclaimed wooden pallet racking sourced from a local farmer’s barn to make sturdy display tables, as well as creating shelves and display stands from reclaimed boxes once used to transport car parts in Birmingham.
On a more day-to-day basis, we have all our paper and cardboard waste collected and recycled by a local business recycling company - Print Waste. There’s also a policy to make sure all computers and lighting is turned off before we leave for the day. The majority of these computers used for our tills and office are also refurbished machines. Not only has this reduced the cost of buying new equipment, but also saves them from an unfortunate life in a landfill.
The future
Whilst we’re proud of what we do to protect the environment, we know there’s much more to do. We’re always looking for new ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
One of our biggest challenges is reducing our energy consumption due to being in a Victorian listed building. However, we’ve set 2022 as the year to improve windows, doors, insulation and improve the efficiency of our heating system.
We’re also making little changes wherever we can, such as changing to using paper based fragile tape and paper bubble wrap alternatives.